Born Anew
by ElementalKeys
Summary: I'm sure you've heard the same story many times, oc character from the real world dies and gets reborn in ninjago. But this is a little different so bear with me k?
1. The awakening

It started out normal, as all days on planet earth do, but there was one key difference.

The death of one very special girl had taken place.

Her famliy and friends mourned her for months, but we all must move on eventually. Though no one forgot her or the fact that she was a very special person.

And yet. . . .this was not the end of her story.

(LINE BREAK)

Ronin was at his wits end.

He had been trying to fix one of the nindroids from the time the Overlord tried to destroy all of ninjago _again_, and that was some time ago now so he'd almost forgotten he even had the thing.

He pulled the old bot from it's resting place in the back of his hidden warehouse, it was just rusting away in there as if waiting for someone, and luckily _h__e_ was that someone!

Ronin thought if he could fix this old thing up and sell it as a maid bot or something he could get some cash out of it, though sadly it seemed he just _could not_ figure out what the problem was!

He had put it back together piece by piece and even got new motherboards for the damn thing and it still wouldn't turn on! It looked brand new and while he didn't like that it's appearance would bring down the price, he was _not_ about to just give up after working so hard on it!

With a sigh Ronin set his tools down and walked to the kitchen to get something to eat or drink, hoping that a break would clear his mind and help him figure out how to get the droid to start up.

As he started running the faucet to make some soup Ronin failed to notice the eyes of the nindroid starting to glow a soft red.

(LINE BREAK)

The first thing she felt was a buzzing in her limbs as she awoke. It was like waking up after a _long_ sleep and still being really tired, except she couldn't feel anything even after what must of been a good few minutes of just sitting there.

slowly her sight started to return to her and Crystal Flameheart took in the room before her for the first time.

For the most part it looked like a rundown apartment, with peeling wall paper and faded paint in some palaces. There was nothing to really note about the place, no pictures of a happy famliy, no decorations or anything really. Just an empty little living room with doorways that lead to who knows where.

The numbness in her body didn't leave her even after she concluded her observation of the dingy apartment living room. Slowly Crystal started to move, getting into a more crouch like position and pushing up to stand in a hunched over stance.

The almost pins and needles like feeling in her body really threw her off balance.

A clicking noise sounded as she moved and the heavy _'thump'_ of her numb foot hitting the carpeted floor alerted someone in the other room to her presence, what Crystal assumed was the kitchen judging by the sounds of pots and pans clanging together, which soon stopped as the person in there froze when they heard her.

(LINE BREAK)

Ronin froze as a dull _'thump' _sounded from the living room. That was _not_ a good sign especially for a mercenary like him. Swiftly yet quietly he moved with practised ease to the living room door and pressed himself against the wall next to the door frame, listing for any movement in the other room.

A soft shuffling could be heard from within and Ronin took the to time weigh his options, his grip on the knife he had grabed before moveing to the door tightening as he thought._"__Okay how am i gonna do this? I can either get the heck out'a doge or stay and risk dying from some robber or something."_ Considering he himself was a robber and a dirty cheat Ronin was none to keen on being on the receiving end of it.

On the other hand he was also not big on the idea of death in his future either.

(LINE BREAK)

Crystal's mind was starting to come back to her and as a result panic was setting in and fear griped her, she didn't know where she was or what was happening the only thing keeping her from having a full on breakdown was the fact that she knew freaking out would do her no good.

Though it was _vary_ hard to keep a cool head in such an unnerving situation.

_"Okay okay okay! keep it calm keep it cool! come on just deep breaths! Remember what you learned, assess the situation and figure out what you know before making a move."_ She thought to herself, trying to take deep breaths only to hear what sounded like a vent trying to mimic her attempts to breath.

She ignored it for now not wanting lose the fragile control she had over her panic. _"Okay okay gotta make sure i don't have amnesia, so first who am i? I am Crystal Flameheart daughter of Nina M. Flameheart and Lewis Flameheart. Okay got that down at least now what happend to me? I was walking home from the park. It was just after twelve o-clock __when. . .wh- when!? When what!? I-I DON'T REMEMBER!" _Now she was about to lose it, the panic and fear from before seeming to double in amount as she tried to remember what happened.

_'Creek'_

She froze, she had nerly forgotten that she was not alone, the realization sent a shiver down her 'spine' or what acted as her spine.

A silhouette just half a head taller then her stepped into the door frame and her eyes caught sight of what was clearly a knife in their hand.


	2. Realization

Ronin did not know what to think right now.

Initially he thought he was about to throw down with some random thug or something, but instead he found the nindroid he'd been fixing up standing hunched over in the middle of his living room.

The droid seemed to be frozen in place, and he could swear the expression on it's face, or what he could see of it's face with the ninja mask still covering it and all, was that of _fear_ of all things.

Panic could also be seen there to, he had no idea how a robot could be this expressive but thinking back he remembered overhearing that all the Overlords nindroids had been based off of Zanes original blueprints, and FSM knows Zane is far more human then one would think just by looking at him, so he guessed he shouldn't be so surprised.

It stared at him and he stared right back, almost like a contest of some sort, against his better judgement he slowly lowered the knife he was holding down to the floor, making sure the droid could see that he wasn't going to attack it.

It watched and stared as if it were an animal either ready bolt or fight for it's life, it's eyes tracking Ronin's movements vary closely. As he slowly stood back up to his full height he started to think about his situation a little more clearly now that he was sure he wasn't about to get shot.

_"Okay so i got it to boot up but now what?"_ He questioned himself, while he _had_ been planning to sell the thing off to the highest bidder he still had some work he needed to do, mainly removing the weapons and other military grade gear it still had inside it and he had no idea how to go about doing that without getting himself killed in the process.

Mabye he could talk to Borg about it, the nindroid _was_ made in his factory after all.

(LINE BREAK)

Crystal stared at the silhouette in the door for what felt like hours but was likely only a few minutes.

Looking more closely she could make out the stubble on there face aswell as chin length dark brown hair. She tensed when the figure started moving and watched as they slowly put the knife on the floor, she honestly didn't know what she'd do if they _did_ decide to attack her but something told her she'd be fine. For now at least.

They slowly stood back to their full height and she finally got a better look at their face, a man that looked like he was in his late forties to early fifties. He was dressed in a white tank top and ripped dark blue jeans with black mechanic gloves sticking out of the waste, she vaguely remembered seeing a pair of knee high leather combat boots next to one of the doors.

They stood there just staring at each other for a while, nether really knowing what to do in this situation, before the man started talking."U-uh..." He stuttered clearly struggling to piece together a coherent sentence."So uh...you're on now thats uh...thats good." He stopped, thinking to himself._"What do you say to a robot that likely has no memory of where, how or why it was made? Do i just tell it i was the one who fixed it up or something?"_ He was _so_ unprepared for this.

She took his pause as her chance to speak up."..." But she to was struggling to think of what to say. So she asked the first thing that poped into her head at this moment.

"Where _am_ i?" She questioned him, hoping that he'd answer her with _something_ she could use to figure out what was going on.

She froze.

Her voice did _not_ sound like _that_. She could not feel her hand or arm as it snapped up to cluch at her throat, somehow the sensation of fabric on her person was still there but it was vague at best, the sound of gears grinding and metal hitting metal reached her ears and it was only now she realized why everything felt so numb.

She was a robot.

(LINE BREAK)

"Where _am_ i?"

Well. . . .he was not expecting _that_.

A voice that sounded vaguely feminine was emitted by the the nindroid in front of him, the metallic and static-y words spoken where soft yet seemed to hold a desperate edge to them. The droid stilled for a moment seemingly surprised and horrified by it's own voice.

And then it's hand flew to it's throat, clutching it as if to choke itself!

"WHOA WHOA WHOA! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" He quickly ran to bot in hope's of keeping it from damaging itself, grabbing it's wrist and jerking it away from the droid he said,"Just WHAT are _thinking_!? You could've crushed you neck by doing that!" At his scolding the nindroid looked up and Ronin's deep brown eyes met burning red optics.


	3. A name

He has an eye patch.

That was her first thought when she turned her head up to look at the man that had previously been standing in the doorway. Well okay mabye not her _first_ thought but still, it seemed his hair had been covering it before because she had completely missed it in her initial size-up of him.

The both of them are staring again, red optics locked with a single deep brown eye, then she collapsed to the floor. She had forgotten about the numbness in her limbs and as a result her legs stopped responding.

"Whoa!" The man yelped as her metal form fell, subsequently dragging him down with her, landing with a dull _'thud'_ and an _'oomf'_ on the carpet. With the impromptu staring contest over, the man managed to get his thoughts back in order.

"Here let me make sure you didn't damage yourself." He said and started reaching for her neck, albeit slowly so as not to scare the human turned bot. Before he could get to close she stopped him, grabbing his wrist loosely, or as loosely as a stressed out nindroid with superhuman strength _could_ grab.

He hissed in discomfort but Crystal didn't notice."Who are you and what did you do to me!?" She shouted in a mechanical voice that _did __not_ belong to her. The man seemed startled by her demand and faltered a moment before answering."Uh m-my name's Ronin and i uhh put you back together." He said, his voice unintentionally quivering from his unease and slight fear.

"'Put me back together'? What do you mean 'put me back together'!?" She questioned, tightening her hold on his wrist.

(LINE BREAK)

Ronin winced as the agitated droid squeezed his wrist. That was going to bruise something awful but the bot did not seem to care that it was hurting him.

"I _mean_ i found you in a trash heap looking ready to be turned into scrap metal! I took you home to fix you up and _now can you please let go of my wrist!__?_" He pleaded, the robots hold had tightened when he started explaining how he found it, it felt like his wrist was about to break from how strong it's grip was.

The bot looked down at it's hand and let go after noticing how tight it's hold had become, it looked a little ashamed of what it had done but that look was quickly replaced by a look of contemplation as it stared at it's hand.

Then that hand slowly went up to remove the mask over it's head and soon he was staring at a vary troubled looking nindroid.

"C-crystal." It said, and he had to do a double take after hearing that."What? i-i don't..." The bot moved, slowly but steadily getting into a crouched position and pushing up to stand, it stood a little straighter then it had before.

Extending a metal hand to him it repeated."My name, it's crystal." It said.

A name. . .as far as he knew the only nindroids that had names, excluding Zane, were Cryptor and mini droid, the rest just had cereal numbers. Ronin hesitated before accepting the offered help, the grip was gentler then before thankfully, and was hauled to his feet.

"Uhh listen...crystal" The name sounded strange on his tongue but he might have to get used to it if this bot was going to be sticking around longer then intended. "i don't exactly know what's going on here and i'm going to assume by your reaction that you don't either so...if you'll let me, i know someone who might be able help you and me out."

Ronin said as he faced the apparently sentient robot in his apartment. Taking it...they? He was pretty sure robots didn't have genders but if this one was sentient it might have one and he just didn't know what that gender was, but for now taking the bot to borg would be the right idea as he had no clue what to do right now.

(LINE BREAK)

She contemplated her hand for a moment.

She had almost broken his wrist. . ._what?_ She was so confused and lost, she couldn't remember what happened to her for her to wake up in the body of a robot or why she was in some random dude's apartment but now that the panic has settled to the back of her mind, for now anyway, she could recall screams and the sounds of burning wood.

_"__I think. . .i died. . ."_ Her thoughts swarmed for a minute before she managed to reel them in, it had felt like it took hours but was really only a minute, Ronin had told her his name and now she would tell him her's.

Slowly she removed the cloth that was obscuring a portion of her face and looked up at him.

"C-crystal." She said, he did a double take."What? i-i don't..." She moved to get up, slowly but steadily getting into a crouched position and pushing up to stand, she tried to stand a little straighter then she had before.

She extended a metal hand to him and repeated."My name, it's crystal." She said. He hesitated a minute before accepting her offered hand and she pulled him to his feet.

"Uhh listen...crystal" Her name sounded strange coming from him but she guessed she should get used to it, she might be here for the rest of her new life. "i don't exactly know what's going on here and i'm going to assume by your reaction that you don't either-" She withheld a snort at his observations."-so...if you'll let me, i know someone who might be able help you and me out." Ronin said as he faced her.

She thought about it, if he knew someone that could figure out what was going on then maybe she could find a way home, but on the other hand if he was lying she might just be walking into a trap. Well it's not like she had much more to lose._"I might be dead after all and all this might just be some test to judge me before i go to Heaven or Hell. . .or i might be in a coma either one is plausible right now"_ She concluded.

"Alright" She replyed, seeing his expression go from concentrated to surprised before settleing on neutral again. "Uh okay well let me go get ready and then we can head over there." Ronin responded walking over to the door she had first seen him come through."My friend should be able to know whats happening here." Crystal watched as he entered the kitchen, slowly she followed him her metal joints clicking and turning in a metallic imitation of the human body.


	4. The tower

Once Ronin was in his causal wear they where off, Crystal wasn't exactly keen on him driving with one eye but she said nothing as he slid into the driver side of the car, the night was calm almost lonely in a way but she stared as the unfamiliar buildings and street's went by reminding her that this was not her home.

The ride was quite except for the radio which was playing some classical music, at least something was familiar in this strange world she found herself in, the music reached a crescendo and slowly ended leaving silence in it's wake.

"So...?" She started, stretching 'o' due to awkwardness, risking a glance at the other occupant of the vehicle. He kept his one eye firmly on the road ahead but a slight twitch of his head in her direction informed her he was listening.

"Who is this _'someone'_ you think can help us?" Crystal questioned, moveing her gaze back to the road in front of her, he slowed to a stop as the street light turned red and answered. "His name's Cyrus Borg and he's an inventor, if anyone can figure this out it should be him." Ronin concluded as the light became green and the car moved forward again, she watched as he took a few turns and soon he was parking the car in the first floor of the parking lot.

As she clumsily stepped out of the vehicle, still not used to her new body, she looked up and her jaw dropped to the asphalt. Crystal had seen many a skyscraper in her day, living in the city and all, but _this_ one was _huge_, she couldn't see where the building ended it was so high in the sky!

A soft chuckling sound brought her back from her shock and she snapped her head in the direction of the noise, Ronin was smirking and failing in his attempt to hide his chuckles behind his fist, she glared half heartily at him from her spot beside the closed car door.

"Ha haa yeah laugh it up." She grumbled, not really mad as she to could imagine the look on her face and it _was_ kinda funny, she took a tentative step forward and started walking steadily just behind Ronin as he lead the way into the massive tower of a building.

The doors opened automatically for them and Crystal was met with the most technologically advanced entrance to a building she had ever seen, computer terminals and high definition T.V screens and other things she didn't know the name of whether she had seen it in her world or not, it was hard to keep pace with Ronin when all she wanted to do was explore and look around.

(LINE BREAK)

Ronin noticed the nindroid slow in it's walk and turned his head slightly to see what had caused it to lose pace with him, the bot that was about an inch or so shorter then him was looking around the place with a child like wonder in it's red ey- uh optics, he couldn't help the small smile that formed on his lips.

Then the moment was ruined.

_#__FACIAL RECOGNITION VERIFIED! NAME: RONIN. OCCUPATION: THIEF.__#_ Ronin flinched as a computerized voice spoke loudly in to the bustle of the lobby. Crystal's attention snapped to him and he could clearly see the look on it- _their_ face said _WHAT!_

Little red dots appeared on his chest and his hands flew into the air above him, Crystal moved so they were back to back with him and instead of putting their hands in the air like he did they got into a fighting stance, he was about to ask what they think they were doing before the bot suddenly stilled and then hunched over, covering their face as if trying to protect their eyes from some unseen horror.

(LINE BREAK)

_#__FACIAL_ _RECOGNITION VERIFIED! NAME: RONIN. OCCUPATION: THIEF.#_ Crystal turned her head in Ronins direction so fast that if she was still human she would've gotten whiplash, as it was the only repercussion she got was the sound of an echoing metallic _snap_ and click from within her neck, she was sure her face said it all for her._"WHAT?!"_

As she saw the red dots appear on his chest she knew she just couldn't stand there and do nothing, pushing her back to his she got into the boxing stance she had practiced since ninth grade and prepared to either fight or negotiate with who ever listings, eyeing the robot guards she was about to size them up for a-

Her vision went _red_.

She wasn't _seeing_ red her eye sight was literally tinted bright red, soon her sight was blocked by tabs that popped up next to the robots in front of her detailing their weaknesses and the vulnerable points on their bodies. She stilled for a minute and then covered her eyes in the hope that the action would make the Windows disappear, sadly that was not the case and the tabs remained for her to read at her leisure, she pressed her back to Ronin's to make sure he was still there and got pressed back in return, not being able to see scared her and as the sound of something powering up filled her ears she prayed it was just her noise receiver system malfunctioning.

The shuffling of the people in the entrance was drowned out by her thoughts, trying to think of how to remove the notifications from her H.U.D she didn't notice that Ronin started talking to the security bots before them."Hey hey hay wait a minute let me explain! I've been doing my community service i swear, but i'm not not here to cause trouble, you have my word!" He stuttered out as smoothly as one could with laser guns pointed at them.

As Crystal risked looking up despite the impaired vision another voice rang out above the din of the lobby in a stern command.

"HALT!"


	5. Elevator music

Cyrus Borg had started his day out like normal.

Wake up, eat breakfast and get dressed for work, he was in the elevator on his way to his private lab to do some tests on his newest invention when he got a notification on his phone. The security bots had identified a thief in the lobby and, to his surprise, Ronin's face was clearly displayed on screen with all the known data about him Just below the picture.

Seems his day just got a little more interesting.

Pressing the lobby button on the elevator and, using the emergency override code to get down faster, the owner of Borg industries was at ground level in a matter of minutes, though given he was already low in the building to begin with might of helped, as the doors opened he was greeted with quite a sight.

The security bots had surrounded Ronin and, while one half of the people in the entrance where trying to see what was going on, the other half where standing back in confusion and slight fear of what was happening. Sighing and thinking to himself about how he _really_ needed to fix the programming in those bots, he inhaled as much air as could and shouted.

"HALT!"

The din of the lobby went quiet as everyone looked his way and he finally got a better look the one he came down here for, the bots backed away as he approached and he saw the the theff standing ramrod straight with his hands high above his head, the sight was hilarious and he would've laughed if the the thing standing beside him hadn't caught his eyes.

A nindroid. One of _his_ nindroids.

Cyrus froze for a moment just staring at the maskless figure that started right back at him, albeit rather awkwardly, his attention snapped to the only one who likely had an explanation for why the droid was functioning again.

"Ronin do you mind explaining _why_ exactly you have a _nindroid_ with you and why you decided to bring it here?" He asked, hi voice strained to keep from shouting, though he had addressed Ronin he kept his gaze firmly on the machine standing next to him.

(LINE BREAK)

Ronin winced as Cyrus questioned him, he had known the inventor had a vary personal history with the Overlord and knew he would not take kindly to the bots visit, he was hoping to talk on less misfortunate circumstances but it seems fate had other plans.

"Okay i can explain but first can you _please_ call off your guards?" He said, he was not about to be held at gun point for wanting the man's help, he kept his eye on Cyrus as he continued to stare at the bot next to him.

Cyrus waved a hand for the bots to leave and one by one they returned to their stations, he rolled his wheelchair to the side and beckoned the to into the elevator behind him, his eyes never once left the nindroid as they moved, very aware of the all the other eyes on them.

Once in the elevator, Cyrus in one corner and the bot in the opposite with Ronin in between, Cyrus hit the button for the floor his lab was on and an awkward silence issued.

Desperate to for the tense air to be dispersed Ronin cleared his throat and was about to explain what happened in the lobby but Cyrus cut him off. "I don't care about the lobby incident, all i what to know is why in Ninjago do you have one of _his_ monstrosities up and walking around again." While his voice remained steady the underlying tone of aggression was easy to hear, he was all but glaring at the bot in the corner and it was clear that, had Ronin not been here, the inventor would have dismantled the the droid then and there.

With a sigh Ronin recounted the tale that brought them here, when he finished Cyrus's glare was no longer as intense as it was before but there was still heat behind it aswell as suspicion, the topic of their conversation was oddly silent throughout the fiasco in the lobby and the preceding story of their meeting from his perspective.

The bot was no longer having a staring contest with Cyrus but was now staring at the floor with a look of deep thought, they blinked a few times before finally looking up at them, more specifically Cyrus, and spoke for the first time since getting out of the car.

"Um...i have a question." They said. Well. . .that was. . .the last thing Ronin expected the bot to say. Apparently the same could be said for Cyrus as one of his eyebrows went up in curiosity, he had only ever known these bots to be violent and loyal to their master not docile and soft spoken like this one.

"What's your question?" Cyrus asked, rather intrigued by this development.

"How do i get rid of these pop-ups on my heads up display?" The nindroid asked. Cyrus blinked. . .what? That shouldn't have been a question they needed to ask, all the information should've been in their database already.

"Um..." He fumbled, he didn't know how one the Overlords creations had survived the initial shutdown of the nindroid army much less help them with their predicament. "uh try thinking about dismissing them?" He didn't sound like he believed his own words but they didn't need to know that.

(LINE BREAK)

When Crystal had looked up the tabs still hadn't disappeared but there was enough of a gap in them that she could see the person in a wheelchair roll out of the elevator after the shout had silenced the occupants of the entrance. He questioned Ronin on why he was here with one of _his_ nindroids, though she couldn't tell if he meant the body she was in belonged to this person or if there was another someone she was unaware of.

She stared awkwardly at the individual that called her a nindroid, whatever that was, and walked calmly into the elevator when he indicated for them to get on. Other then the cliche elevator music it was quiet, the man in the wheelchair continued to glare at her as they went up the building and it was making her kinda nervous.

Ronin cleared his throat and looked like he was about to say something before the man spoke first. "I don't care about the lobby incident, all i what to know is why in Ninjago do you have one of his monstrosities up and walking around again." It was clear he was trying to keep the aggression out of his voice but Crystal could hear loud and clear the hostility in his words, the person did _not_ like her, or more specifically the body she was inhabiting, for what ever reason.

Ronin sighed and told him of how they met and slowly the mans gaze became less intense then before, but it was still a glare so she wasn't going to count her chickens until they've hatched, at some point she had stopped staring at him and instead started a staring match with the elevator floor.

She _still_ had those pop-ups on her H.U.D and it was _very_ annoying.

She looked up and caught the eyes of the other male in the room and spoke in the voice that she didn't think she'd ever get used to. "Um...i have a question. She said, and apparently that wasn't the first thing they expected out of her mouth after all that happened as Ronin looked at her with bewilderment and the wheel bound man with a curious expression, one eyebrow raised and head tilted to that side _just_ a little that it seemed the only reason she noticed was because of her new hypersensitive vision.

"What's your question?" The man responded and man did she need to ask him what his name was, the pop-ups blocked most of her view and while the gap was enough to see directly in front of her the majority of tabs was blocking her peripherals and that wasn't good, so she asked the one question that this man who Ronin believed could help may be able to answer.

"How do i get rid of these pop-ups on my heads up display?"

He fumbled for a moment."Um..." Clearly he didn't expect such a question from a robot, she supposed as bot she should already know how to do that but she wasn't_ exactly_ a robot so that didn't apply, she didn't bother reading the tabs as her eyes skimmed over them to try and see Ronin before turning back to the man across from her.

"uh try thinking about dismissing them?" It sounded like he believed his own words and honestly she didn't either but it was worth a shot, Crystal pulled her focus from the other occupants of the elevator and turned attention to the problem that was currently plaguing her, the tabs held information about the security bots same as when she'd first surveyed them.

She tilted her head to the side a little as she thought, maybe it was like a phone and she had to swipe to get rid of them. . .well whatever works, with a light flick and _click_ of her neck joint she envisioned the tabs sliding to the left of her H.U.D and. . . surprisingly it worked!

The the tabs moved quickly to the left and out of sight as her vision was once again as clear as a brand new window.

She straightened up the slight hunch she had before and smiled at that man in front of her. "Thanks that feels much better." She said, happy to be free of the annoying red tint that had come over her sight when the tabs popped up.

The man looked vaguely surprised at her gratitude and especially her smile._"Huh i wonder why."_ Her thoughts provided no help with her situation and frankly she was annoyed with that.

Soon the elevator reached the floor the man had requested and they all stepped, or in the bespectacled mans case wheeled, out.


End file.
